Courts in Mastung, Kalat and Quetta have granted bail to Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch and several other organizers in a series of cases, including those registered under anti-terrorism provisions.
In Mastung, a magistrate court approved bail for Dr Mahrang Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch and Beebow Baloch in two cases filed under Section 144. In Kalat, the Anti-Terrorism Court granted bail in four cases registered under different sections of the anti-terrorism law. Courts in Quetta have also granted bail in several cases filed earlier this year.
Despite the court orders, Dr Mahrang Baloch remains detained at Huda District Jail in Quetta. She was arrested on 22 March 2025 under the Maintenance of Public Order law. According to the BYC, the detention of Dr Mahrang and other organizers was extended through “politically motivated FIRs” after the expiry of the MPO order.
The organization said that the recent bail decisions show the cases are “baseless and fabricated” and relate to peaceful political activity protected under Article 19 of Pakistan’s Constitution. It said repeated remands, delays in investigation reports and procedural obstruction had prolonged the incarceration of the leaders for ten months.
Family Says State Is ‘Weaponizing Law’ Against Peaceful Activists
In a separate statement, Nadia Baloch, sister of Dr Mahrang Baloch, said the state was “using the law as a weapon against peaceful Baloch political leadership”. She said that her sister and other BYC leaders had now completed ten months in detention.
She said bail had been granted in twelve FIRs within a single week in Quetta, Mastung and Kalat, which she said demonstrated the lack of evidence in the cases.
According to her, multiple FIRs were registered on the same political activities, including a rally in Dalbandin, which she described as “illegal” and a violation of Article 13 of the Constitution, which protects against double jeopardy.
She said some cases included allegations linking BYC leaders to a suicide attack, which she called “absurd and malicious”, adding that courts had also granted bail in those FIRs.
Nadia Baloch said the state was “criminalizing peaceful political struggle” and treating dissent as “terrorism”, adding that the practice amounted to “collective punishment”.
“When voices could not be silenced through force, the law was turned into a weapon,” she said. “But history shows that laws used for oppression ultimately expose the oppressor itself.”